Abstract Introduction Several gender differences have been reported in Parkinson's Disease (PD). We evaluated the burden of non-motor symptoms (NMS) in PD and the possible gender differences in their ...occurrence. Methods The FRAGAMP study is a large multicenter case-control study. PD patients and controls underwent a face-to-face interview and a neurological examination performed by trained neurologists. Presence of NMS was investigated using a standardized questionnaire; cognitive impairment and depression were assessed using the Mini Mental State Examination and the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale respectively. Results 585 PD patients (59.5% men) and 481 controls (34.9% men) were enrolled in the study. All NMS were significantly more frequent among PD patients than controls. PD women showed a significantly higher frequency of depression and urinary disturbances than parkinsonian men; a close frequency among PD women and men was recorded for hallucination, cognitive impairment and sleep disorders. Nonetheless, with respect to the control population, according to logistic regression stratified by sex and adjusted by age, PD men showed a stronger positive significant association with almost all NMS compared to women, excepting for urinary disturbances. The strongest association among PD men was recorded for cognitive impairment (adjusted OR 5.44 for men and 2.82 for women) and depression (adjusted OR 30.88 for men and 12.72 for women). Conclusions With respect to the general population, presence of NMS was stronger associated with male gender. Our data suggest that the presence of NMS among PD men is more strictly due to the neurodegenerative processes related to PD.
Background Diffusion tensor imaging allows the study of integrity of white matter (WM) tracts. Literature suggests that WM integrity could be altered in bipolar disorder. Heterogeneity of brain ...imaging methods, the studied samples, and drug treatments make localization, nature, and severity of the WM abnormalities unclear. Methods We applied tract-based spatial statistics of diffusion tensor imaging measures to compare fractional anisotropy (FA), mean, and radial diffusivity of the WM skeleton in a group of 40 consecutively admitted inpatients affected by a major depressive episode without psychotic features with a diagnosis of bipolar disorder type I and 21 unrelated healthy volunteers from the general population. Results Compared with control subjects, patients showed lower FA in the genu of the corpus callosum and in anterior and right superior-posterior corona radiata and higher values of radial diffusivity in WM tracts of splenium, genu and body of corpus callosum, right mid-dorsal part of the cingulum bundle, left anterior and bilateral superior and posterior corona radiata, bilateral superior longitudinal fasciculus, and right posterior thalamic radiation. Patients had no brain areas with higher FA or lower diffusivity values than control subjects. Conclusions Reduced FA with increased mean and radial diffusivity suggests significant demyelination and/or dysmyelination without axonal loss. Comparing our findings with other observations in homogeneous samples of euthymic and manic patients, it can be hypothesized that changes in measures of WM integrity might parallel illness phases of bipolar illness.
Neuroimaging studies suggest anterior-limbic structural brain abnormalities in patients with bipolar disorder (BD), but few studies have shown these abnormalities in unaffected but genetically liable ...family members. In this study, we report morphometric correlates of genetic risk for BD using voxel-based morphometry. In 35 BD type I (BD-I) patients, 20 unaffected first-degree relatives (UAR) of BD patients and 40 healthy control subjects underwent 3 T magnetic resonance scanner imaging. Preprocessing of images used DARTEL (diffeomorphic anatomical registration through exponentiated lie algebra) for voxel-based morphometry in SPM8 (Wellcome Department of Imaging Neuroscience, London, UK). The whole-brain analysis revealed that the gray matter (GM) volumes of the left anterior insula and right inferior frontal gyrus showed a significant main effect of diagnosis. Multiple comparison analysis showed that the BD-I patients and the UAR subjects had smaller left anterior insular GM volumes compared with the healthy subjects, the BD-I patients had smaller right inferior frontal gyrus compared with the healthy subjects. For white matter (WM) volumes, there was a significant main effect of diagnosis for medial frontal gyrus. The UAR subjects had smaller right medial frontal WM volumes compared with the healthy subjects. These findings suggest that morphometric brain abnormalities of the anterior-limbic neural substrate are associated with family history of BD, which may give insight into the pathophysiology of BD, and be a potential candidate as a morphological endophenotype of BD.
To evaluate non-motor symptoms (NMS) occurring during ON pharmacological state and validate a new questionnaire, the Non-motor symptoms-ON scale (NoMoS-ON), exploring ON NMS in Parkinson's disease ...(PD).
Patients with PD were evaluated by a new questionnaire, the NoMoS-ON scale, evaluating 17 items related to the main symptoms experienced during the ON state. PD patients who experienced at least one symptom in ON were defined ON-NMS+. Internal consistency and test-retest reliability of NoMoS-ON scale were also assessed.
One-hundred and thirty-seven PD patients were consecutively enrolled (79 men and 58 women, age 69.4 ± 9.5 years (mean ± SD)). Seventy-seven patients were ON-NMS+ (56.6 %). PD patients with short disease duration (<7 years) showed the presence of unpleasant NMS: “sleepiness”, “light-headedness”, “nausea/vomiting”. PD patients with longer disease duration experienced pleasant non-motor features including “feel lot of energy”, “feel physical well-being”. ON-NMS+ were also associated with female gender (OR 2.81, 95%CI 1.37–5.77, p-value 0.005) and with motor fluctuations (OR 2.41, 95%CI 1.20–4.83, p-value 0.013). Cronbach's alpha was 0.61 and 5 items had adequate item-to-total correlations (r ≥ 0.40). Test–retest reliability was acceptable (intraclass correlation coefficient, ICC = 0.77).
The NoMoS-ON scale is a valid, reproducible and reliable questionnaire capturing the ON NMS in PD. PD patients with disease duration shorter than 7 years showed the presence of unpleasant NMS whereas those with longer disease duration experienced pleasant non-motor features. This could help the physician in the therapy management of PD patients in different phases of their disease.
•NMS are very common in PD occurring also in ON state.•A simple clinical interview can be insufficient to correctly identify NMS.•The NoMoS-ON scale is a valid and reliable questionnaire capturing the ON NMS in PD.
Background
To assess the state of neurological scientific research in Italy in the time interval 2020–2023.
Methods
Elsevier’s modular integrated platform “SciVal” was used to analyze bibliometric ...research products starting from scientific production data uploaded onto Scopus. We considered the research area “Neurology” in the 01/01/2020–14/06/2023 time interval, and the following variables were extracted: number of published studies, number of citations, Field-Weighted Citation Impact, and percentage of international collaborations. The contribution of Italian scientists to the neurological research was compared to that of the other nations.
Results
Research identified 90,633 scientific papers in the neurological area worldwide, with a total of 472,750 citations. The products assigned to Italian groups were 6670 (53,587 citations, Field-Weighted Citation Impact 1.68, 41% international collaborations).
Conclusions
According to the present study, Italian neurological research 2020 to 2023 ranks fifth globally and third in Europe.
Nonmotor symptoms (NMS) have a great impact on patients with Parkinson disease (PD). The Non-Motor Symptoms Scale (NMSS) is an instrument specifically designed for the comprehensive assessment of NMS ...in patients with PD. NMSS psychometric properties have been tested in this study.
Data were collected in 12 centers across 10 countries in America, Asia, and Europe. In addition to the NMSS, the following measures were applied: Scales for Outcomes in Parkinson's Disease (SCOPA)-Motor, SCOPA-Psychiatric Complications (SCOPA-PC), SCOPA-Cognition, Hoehn and Yahr Staging (HY), Clinical Impression of Severity Index for Parkinson's Disease (CISI-PD), SCOPA-Autonomic, Parkinson's Disease Sleep Scale (PDSS), Parkinson's Disease Questionnaire-39 items (PDQ-39), and EuroQol-5 dimensions (EQ-5D). NMSS acceptability, reliability, validity, and precision were analyzed.
Four hundred eleven patients with PD, 61.3% men, were recruited. The mean age was 64.5 +/- 9.9 years, and mean disease duration was 8.1 +/- 5.7 years. The NMSS score was 57.1 +/- 44.0 points. The scale was free of floor or ceiling effects. For domains, the Cronbach alpha coefficient ranged from 0.44 to 0.85. The intraclass correlation coefficient (0.90 for the total score, 0.67-0.91 for domains) and Lin concordance coefficient (0.88) suggested satisfactory reproducibility. The NMSS total score correlated significantly with SCOPA-Autonomic, PDQ-39, and EQ-5D (r(S) = 0.57-0.70). Association was close between NMSS domains and the corresponding SCOPA-Autonomic domains (r(S) = 0.51-0.65) and also with scales measuring related constructs (PDSS, SCOPA-PC) (all p < 0.0001). The NMSS total score was higher for women (p < 0.02) and for increasing disease duration, HY, and CISI-PD severity level (p < 0.001). The SEM was 13.91 for total score and 1.71 to 4.73 for domains.
The Non-Motor Symptoms Scale is an acceptable, reproducible, valid, and precise assessment instrument for nonmotor symptoms in Parkinson disease.
Background and purpose
Congenital disorders of glycosylation (CDG) represent an increasing number of rare inherited metabolic diseases associated with abnormal glycan metabolism and disease onset in ...infancy or early childhood. Most CDG are multisystemic diseases mainly affecting the central nervous system. The aim of the current study was to investigate hyperkinetic movement disorders in patients affected by CDG and to characterize phenomenology based on CDG subtypes.
Methods
Subjects were identified from a cohort of patients with CDG who were referred to the University Hospital of Catania, Italy. Patients were evaluated by neurologists with expertise in movement disorders and videotaped using a standardized protocol.
Results
A variety of hyperkinetic movement disorders was detected in eight unrelated CDG patients. Involuntary movements were generally observed early in childhood, maintaining a clinical stability over time. Distribution ranged from a generalized, especially in younger subjects, to a segmental/multifocal involvement. In patients with phosphomannomutase 2 CDG, the principal movement disorders included dystonia and choreo‐athetosis. In patients affected by other CDG types, the movement disorders ranged from pure generalized chorea to mixed movement disorders including dystonia and complex stereotypies.
Conclusions
Hyperkinetic movement disorder is a key clinical feature in patients with CDG. CDG should be considered in the differential diagnosis of childhood‐onset dyskinesia, especially when associated with ataxia, developmental delay, intellectual disability, autism or seizure disorder.
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Our knowledge about the neurobiology of suicide is limited. It has been proposed that suicidal behavior generally requires biological abnormalities concomitant with the personality trait of ...impulsivity/aggression, besides an acute psychiatric illness or psychosocial stressor. We investigated fronto-limbic anatomical brain abnormalities in suicidal and non-suicidal adult female patients with unipolar depression. Our sample consisted of seven suicidal unipolar patients, 10 non-suicidal unipolar patients and 17 healthy female comparison subjects. The criterion for suicidality was one or more documented lifetime suicide attempts. A 1.5T GE Signa Imaging System running version Signa 5.4.3 software was used to acquire the magnetic resonance imaging images. All anatomical structures were measured blindly, with the subjects' identities and group assignments masked. We used analysis of covariance with age and intracranial volume as covariates and the Tukey-Kramer procedure to compare suicidal patients, non-suicidal patients and healthy comparison subjects. Suicidal patients had smaller right and left orbitofrontal cortex gray matter volumes compared with healthy comparison subjects. Suicidal patients had larger right amygdala volumes than non-suicidal patients. Abnormalities in the orbitofrontal cortex and amygdala in suicidal patients may impair decision-making and predispose these patients to act more impulsively and to attempt suicide.
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